Non, je ne regrette rien

[knifenutta]

2004 i owned a new model honwave 3.5 alloy floor with a legendary 18hp 2 stroke tohatsu with merit trailer. it was my first boat and the i loved it.it did take up all the garage and i couldn't help thinking the benefits of it being on a trailer were marginal (the engine was just about portable). a couple of cold choppy days on the sea coupled with a miniscule leak and i sold the lot taking a £1000 hit.the garage was mine again but there's something missing.- a boat! now that the kids aren't 'reet bovvered' all i need is a 2.7 to 3.0 airdeck that will fit in the car and a motor that will plane with just me on board. 8hp will be fine but will 6hp manage it? i know, i know bigger is better but have you seen the price difference??? almost double for 2 hp more ! 2nd hand you say, i'd rather not but looking through ebay recently all i can find are 3hp or 30hp plus. the occassional 8/10hp model do crop up but usually 200 miles away.i am surprised people don't bother with this combination,the launching possibilities are unbeatable (and free) and surely more spontaneous should a decent day pop up.so after all that,will 6 hp plane an airdeck?

[thornbackflound]

Originally Posted by knifenutta

2004 i owned a new model honwave 3.5 alloy floor with a legendary 18hp 2 stroke tohatsu with merit trailer. it was my first boat and the i loved it.it did take up all the garage and i couldn't help thinking the benefits of it being on a trailer were marginal (the engine was just about portable). a couple of cold choppy days on the sea coupled with a miniscule leak and i sold the lot taking a £1000 hit.the garage was mine again but there's something missing.- a boat! now that the kids aren't 'reet bovvered' all i need is a 2.7 to 3.0 airdeck that will fit in the car and a motor that will plane with just me on board. 8hp will be fine but will 6hp manage it? i know, i know bigger is better but have you seen the price difference??? almost double for 2 hp more ! 2nd hand you say, i'd rather not but looking through ebay recently all i can find are 3hp or 30hp plus. the occassional 8/10hp model do crop up but usually 200 miles away.i am surprised people don't bother with this combination,the launching possibilities are unbeatable (and free) and surely more spontaneous should a decent day pop up.so after all that,will 6 hp plane an airdeck?

Can t help with the boat matter,but christ you have picked a name there to call your self,especialy with all the KNIFE crime in england ,kids getting stabbed every five minutes

[lightning]

I've got a Zodiac 2.85m solid floor with a Mercury 6hp 4 stroke and it planes easily with 2 of us on board, achieving 14.5mph on the GPS. That's with me sat on the tube at the rear and my wife on the seat at the front. I've not tried it with just one person on board but I imagine it would be a bit faster.
The boat has a V-floor similar to the air deck version, but has a solid wood floor over the top. The engine weighs 26kg and is easy to carry/fit on the boat.
Mercury do a 4, 5 and 6hp version of this engine and they all look identical, except that the 5 and 6 hp have an external fuel tank. I think Mariner and Tohatsu do pretty much the same engine with their name on it. I'm not sure how the 4 and 5 hp versions would perform regarding planing/boat speed though.
Motor Boat Monthly did a test of small (2.6m and 2.7m) SIBs recently and there was quite a difference in performance between boats, using the same engine (a 5hp). All would plane with one person and a 5hp, but most struggled with 2 persons. They also tested the boats with a 2.5hp and none would really get on the plane with one person, except a Sunsport which managed 10mph.

[knifenutta]

thanks lightning-just the information i was looking for, thornback... uncoil a bit.